ILLINOIS deer hunters, an absolute MUST read!
01-02-2014, 06:16 AM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,462
Also, Allstate and State Farm are based out of Illinois. Every deer/Car collision costs them a lot of money. The less deer/car collisions their are the more money they make. They have a huge influence on the politics and the amount of taxes they pay to the state makes license fee look like a drop in the bucket.
While I hate not seeing as many deer and hate hearing others not seeing deer, you have to look at it from the flip side and see why we are having these problems. While we are mad that our hunting is being effected, look at it from the farmers side as well.
This is another perspective, I don't agree with it but can see the other sides point of view as well. I just hate how the state lies to us and say that the numbers are still unaffected.
01-02-2014, 07:00 AM
#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Northern Tennessee
Posts: 128
Some interesting perspectives. I've hunted & harvested deer in at least ten different states including Indiana, Kentucky, WV & Tennessee. I'm still scratching my head about the comment that Tennessee is a "wasteland" when as a state fully 25% smaller than Illinois (42,000 SM VS 58,000 SM) we harvest almost exactly the same amount of deer per year. 
EHD hit our herd pretty badly a few years ago and our yearly harvests have fallen below the 180,000 level for a few years now. To figure such a loss has no significant effect on a herd is folly, at least in my opinion. States vary widely in their attitudes about hunting deer. I live close to the border and hunt both Kentucky & Tennessee every year. In Kentucky, whose gun season opens earlier and lasts for about 2 weeks, the local limit is 1 buck and 1 doe (or two does), with additional doe tags available for more $$.
In Tennessee the local limit is 3 does a day, plus three bucks total for a season that includes about 7 weeks of rifle this year (still ongoing) and lasts over 100 days total. No, the local populations do not vary that much, but the states have obviously looked at hunting and bag limits through different colored glasses.
I have no problem with the quality of the deer herd in Tn, although I've not seen a buck I've wanted to harvest this season, mostly due to lost hunting areas. If I could, I'd gladly shoot another Kentucky buck (or two) as the area I hunt has a huge population of both does & bucks. We as hunters will likely never see any DNR run by "experts" again as most are now run by appointees, appointed by politicians, not by biologists or solid biological practices. Like many other things, it has become political, when it likely should NOT be so. But politics is $$ and $$ drives the train today.
EHD hit our herd pretty badly a few years ago and our yearly harvests have fallen below the 180,000 level for a few years now. To figure such a loss has no significant effect on a herd is folly, at least in my opinion. States vary widely in their attitudes about hunting deer. I live close to the border and hunt both Kentucky & Tennessee every year. In Kentucky, whose gun season opens earlier and lasts for about 2 weeks, the local limit is 1 buck and 1 doe (or two does), with additional doe tags available for more $$.
In Tennessee the local limit is 3 does a day, plus three bucks total for a season that includes about 7 weeks of rifle this year (still ongoing) and lasts over 100 days total. No, the local populations do not vary that much, but the states have obviously looked at hunting and bag limits through different colored glasses.
I have no problem with the quality of the deer herd in Tn, although I've not seen a buck I've wanted to harvest this season, mostly due to lost hunting areas. If I could, I'd gladly shoot another Kentucky buck (or two) as the area I hunt has a huge population of both does & bucks. We as hunters will likely never see any DNR run by "experts" again as most are now run by appointees, appointed by politicians, not by biologists or solid biological practices. Like many other things, it has become political, when it likely should NOT be so. But politics is $$ and $$ drives the train today.
01-02-2014, 07:11 AM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
IL is different than a lot of states.
In IL the planting of millions of acres of corn and beans increases the deer herd way over what the State could sustain on its own.
The herd is only so huge because the farmers feed these deer. TN seems to have much more natural wilderness. Deer living in vast wilderness is not the same as deer living on the farmers dollar.
In IL if you buy your own land and spend your own money to feed the deer you can almost manage the herd how ever you please.
In IL the planting of millions of acres of corn and beans increases the deer herd way over what the State could sustain on its own.
The herd is only so huge because the farmers feed these deer. TN seems to have much more natural wilderness. Deer living in vast wilderness is not the same as deer living on the farmers dollar.
In IL if you buy your own land and spend your own money to feed the deer you can almost manage the herd how ever you please.
01-02-2014, 07:29 AM
#17
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Northern Tennessee
Posts: 128
IL is different than a lot of states.
In IL the planting of millions of acres of corn and beans increases the deer herd way over what the State could sustain on its own.
The herd is only so huge because the farmers feed these deer. TN seems to have much more natural wilderness. Deer living in vast wilderness is not the same as deer living on the farmers dollar.
In IL if you buy your own land and spend your own money to feed the deer you can almost manage the herd how ever you please.
In IL the planting of millions of acres of corn and beans increases the deer herd way over what the State could sustain on its own.
The herd is only so huge because the farmers feed these deer. TN seems to have much more natural wilderness. Deer living in vast wilderness is not the same as deer living on the farmers dollar.
In IL if you buy your own land and spend your own money to feed the deer you can almost manage the herd how ever you please.
I'm still confused as to why someone would call Tennessee a "wasteland" when we have a very healthy herd of about 1,000,000 deer and harvest about 175,000 deer/year.
FWIW, I've been hunting deer here for right at 20 years now and think it's a great state for those who enjoy deer hunting with a healthy population and long gun season. I've deer hunted in many other states as well in the last 20 years and personally think we stack up just fine.
01-02-2014, 07:35 AM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
I understand and don't doubt your explanation at all, except that Tennessee really has little "vast" wilderness left, except in the Smokies in east Tn.
I'm still confused as to why someone would call Tennessee a "wasteland" when we have a very healthy herd of about 1,000,000 deer and harvest about 175,000 deer/year.
FWIW, I've been hunting deer here for right at 20 years now and think it's a great state for those who enjoy deer hunting with a healthy population and long gun season. I've deer hunted in many other states as well in the last 20 years and personally think we stack up just fine.
I'm still confused as to why someone would call Tennessee a "wasteland" when we have a very healthy herd of about 1,000,000 deer and harvest about 175,000 deer/year.
FWIW, I've been hunting deer here for right at 20 years now and think it's a great state for those who enjoy deer hunting with a healthy population and long gun season. I've deer hunted in many other states as well in the last 20 years and personally think we stack up just fine.
01-02-2014, 07:38 AM
#19
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern WI
Posts: 853
I understand and don't doubt your explanation at all, except that Tennessee really has little "vast" wilderness left, except in the Smokies in east Tn.
I'm still confused as to why someone would call Tennessee a "wasteland" when we have a very healthy herd of about 1,000,000 deer and harvest about 175,000 deer/year.
FWIW, I've been hunting deer here for right at 20 years now and think it's a great state for those who enjoy deer hunting with a healthy population and long gun season. I've deer hunted in many other states as well in the last 20 years and personally think we stack up just fine.
I'm still confused as to why someone would call Tennessee a "wasteland" when we have a very healthy herd of about 1,000,000 deer and harvest about 175,000 deer/year.
FWIW, I've been hunting deer here for right at 20 years now and think it's a great state for those who enjoy deer hunting with a healthy population and long gun season. I've deer hunted in many other states as well in the last 20 years and personally think we stack up just fine.
Perhaps that is a good thing this year, as we are having the harshest winter in history so far. But another 3 feet of snow and weeks on end of subzero temps and we might not even save the few deer left.
